Workers, especially electricians, must often work in areas in which it is difficult to get to a tool chest. These same workers, however, must often perform a variety of functions, each requiring a different tool. Workers, therefore, generally carry a multiplicity of tools in a tool belt or tool kit.
Even the most skilled worker, however, looses time removing and replacing tools in his belt. Workers also loose time searching for lost tools that they have set down at different locations. Furthermore, a tool belt with all the necessary tools can become quite heavy leading to increased worker fatigue. It is desirable, therefore, to have a single tool that provides all the necessary functions of the individual tools.
Prior art attempts at providing such a tool include the following patents:
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 334,521 (1993) to Simpson, the applicant in this application, the disclosure of which was incorporated by reference above. Applicant's design patent '521 discloses a combination tool composed of two tool halves rotatably joined by a pivot pin. Design patent '521 discloses a tool having a knurled hammer head and a standard nail removing claw, a crimper, insulated flared handles, two sets of gripping jaws, and a wire cutter.
The following elements of the present invention are not disclosed in the '521 design patent. The circumference of the hammer head of the present invention is rounded and sized to fit into the end of a 1 inch electrical pipe, and comprises a reaming edge on its lower surface. The exterior edge of hammer head of the '521 patent was square. The present invention, therefore, comprises a pipe reamer for use with pipes having one inch circumferences. The protruding nose of the present invention is designed to extract staples and finish nails, as well as, for reaming one half inch and three quarter inch pipe. No reaming edges are obvious or disclosed in the '521 design patent.
The present invention includes a wire stripper which is not disclosed in the '521 design patent. The present invention's wire stripper is a circular hole disposed adjacent to the wire cutter. The stripper hole is tapered. The stripper hole is sized such that the invention's single wire stripper may be used to strip the two most common sizes of electrical wire. The width of the wire cutter is designed to allow multiple wire and cable sizes to be cut with one wire cutter. Furthermore, the hardness of the wire cutter is designed to allow cables and wires of varying degrees of hardness to be cut with one cutter.
The second lower set of gripping jaws of the present invention comprise knurled grooves running parallel to the longitudinal axis of the present invention. This longitudinal groove design allows metal tape to be grabbed or pulled without allowing the metal tape to slip out of the s tool's grip, as is common in many prior art tools. The second lower gripping jaws of the '521 design comprise horizontal grooves running perpendicular to the tool's longitudinal axis.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,659 (1994) to Park discloses a multipurpose tool that comprises four working areas each having a different pair of working edges. Each set of working edges perform a function different than that performed by the other three sets of edges. The present invention differs significantly in design and further comprises a hammer head, a reamer, a crimper and nail removing claws.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,140 (1991) to Chen et al. discloses a multipurpose combination tool that includes a tire repair kit. The present invention is not a tire repair kit. The present invention includes the following features that are not contained in the Chen '140 patent: hammer head is knurled; a crimper; two pair of gripper jaws, one of which comprises longitudinal knurls, and the other a protruding nose; flared insulated handles; two sets of reamers; a tapered wire stripper; and the wire cutter is of a width and hardness that allows wire and cable of varying sizes and hardnesses to be cut with a single tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,248 (1990) to Trombetta discloses an electrician's compound tool comprising a hammer head, cutter blades, a series of wire strippers, a wire cutter, a knife, a crimper, a pair of blunt pliers, a bolt cutter, a claw and screw driver.
The present invention includes many features not disclosed or included in the above Trombetta '248 patent. The present invention provides the equivalent of two sets of pliers, one set having protruding nose for removing staples and the other having longitudinal knurls for gripping metal tape without the tape slipping. The present invention also provides the equivalent of two reamers for use with varying sized pipe. The wire stripper of the present invention comprises a tapered hole functioning to strip wire of varying circumferences with a single hole. Furthermore, the width and hardness of present invention's wire cutters allow the present invention to cut wire and cable of varying sizes and hardnesses.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,001 (1986) to Liou discloses a multipurpose pliers substantially comprising a hammer head, nail puller, wrench, flat nosed pliers, wire stripper and wire cutter. The present invention comprises the equivalent of two reamers, two sets of pliers, one set having a protruding nose, the other longitudinal knurls, and a crimper. Furthermore, the wire cutter of the present invention is of a harness and size to cut wire and cable of varying hardnesses and sizes. The wire stripper is a tapered hole configuration sized for stripping wire of varying circumference sizes with a single tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,104,752 (1978) to Amrein et al. discloses a multipurpose tool comprising a series of wire stripping holes of varying diameters, flat nosed gripping surfaces, wire cutting elements, a reamer element, and crimpers for crimping flexible elements. The present invention differs significantly form the '752 invention by further comprising a hammer head, nail removing claws, two gripping jaws, one having a protruding nose and the other having longitudinal knurls, flared insulated handles, and two reaming surfaces. Furthermore, the wire stripper of the present invention is a single tapered hole sized for stripping wire with varying circumferences.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,904 (1976) to Hayes discloses an electrician's combination tool comprising a staple puller, hammer head, a wire cutter and a wire stripper. The present invention comprises the additional elements of a knurled hammer head surface, a nail removing claw, two reamers, two pliers gripping surfaces, one having longitudinal knurls, and a crimper. Furthermore, the wire stripper of the present invention comprises a tapered hole configuration sized for stripping wire of varying diameters using a single tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,572,237 (1951) to Andrews discloses a combination tool having the features of a hammer, a pair of pliers, a wire cutting, and a tool for tightening wire upon a concrete form. The present invention includes the additional features of outwardly flared insulated handles, two reamers, a wire stripper and a crimper.
While it is well known to combine various tools, such as a hammer and pliers, into a single tool, the present invention solves many problems not addressed by the above prior art. The present invention combines a set of functions into one tool that have not been combined in the prior art. This combination is particularly suited to provide an electrical worker with the maximum number of functions in one tool. The present invention joins two tool halves with a pivot pin thereby providing a single tool with the following combination of functions, unknown in the prior art: outwardly flared insulated handles; a knurled hammer head; a hammer claw; a crimper; two pair of gripping jaws, one having a protruding nose and the other having longitudinal knurls; a wire cutter; and two reamers.
The various features of the combination of the present invention solve problems that are not solved by the prior art. In the prior art, a series of holes of varying diameters had to be used to strip different sizes of wire. The present invention's wire stripper is a tapered hole sized so that it allows wire of varying circumferences to be stripped using a single stripping hole.
In the prior art, wire or cable, such as ROMEX cable, had to be cut by different wire cutters having the appropriate width and hardness. The present invention's wire cutter is of a width and a hardness that allows wire and cable, such as ROMEX cable, of varying sizes and hardnesses to be cut with a single tool. Furthermore, in the prior art, tools used to grip metal fish tape often allowed the tape to slip or slide out of the tool's grip. The present invention has longitudinal knurls in its second gripping jaw. This configuration prevents metal fish tape from slipping when pulled or grabbed by the gripping jaw.